1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network printing technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a network printing technology is being actively developed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-271347 discloses a network printing system in which printing is performed at a printer connected to a network such as Internet.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional network printing system. The network printing system in FIG. 15 is configured as an extranet environment in which an intranet environment 200 is connected to another intranet environment 300 via a network 400. In such a configuration, it is possible to carry out a print job at a printer arranged in the intranet environment 300 by giving a printing instruction from a host computer arranged in the intranet environment 200, and vice versa.
However, during a printing process in a conventional network printing system, there is a possibility that an error such as a paper-out condition, a paper jam condition, or a toner empty condition occurs in the printer thereby causing interruption in the printing process. If the host computer is not notified about such an error, then there is a possibility that the printer is left unattended without being restored to a printable state.